Packard

Packard was founded by James Ward Packard in Warren, Ohio, in 1898, first under the name the Ohio Automobile Company, being later renamed Packard Motor Car Company. The first Packard, a luxury, extremely reliable car, was produced in 1899. By mid1920’s Packard was considered the leader of prestige cars in the USA. Together with Peerless and Pierce-Arrow. they became known as the “3 P’s of Motordom” in the USA, which meant premium vehicles.In 1930 Packard tried to beat the Great Depression, building an even more luxurious model but, in 1932, Packard decided to launch a car for the upper-medium-class. This strategy proved to be detrimental to the image of Packard, which was so far looked as a luxury, exclusive make. Despite the hardships of the financial crisis, Packard manage to outlive the Great Depression and the WWII shortages. In 1954 the sales were decreasing and Packard bought Studebaker and became the Studebaker-Packard Corporation but this did not save the company that came to an end in 1958. An attempt to revive Packard was made in 1995 without success.